BNP: war hero Johnson Beharry only got medal because he is black

The British National Party has provoked outrage after claiming that the Iraq
war hero Johnson Beharry was only awarded the Victoria Cross because he is
black.

By Ben Leach

9:00AM BST 17 May 2009

The BNP, led by Nick Griffin, called Johnson Beharry "an immigrant" and claimed his heroics, which saved the lives of 30 fellow soldiers, were simply "routine".

On its website the far-right political party states that Lance Corporal Beharry only received Britain's top military honour because of "positive discrimination by the PC-mad government".

It comes just days after the party held an Armed Forces Awareness Day to try to portray themselves as "the only party that supports our troops".

Grenada-born L/Cpl Beharry was honoured in 2005 after twice saving lives under enemy fire. He became the Army's most high-profile war hero when he received the VC for "repeated extreme gallantry and unquestioned valour" for the two rescues in May and June 2004 "despite a harrowing weight of incoming fire".

He was at the head of a five-vehicle convoy when it came under attack in the town of al-Amarah on 1 May 2004. He guided the column through a mile of enemy ground to drop off wounded comrades at great risk to his own safety, his citation said.

Weeks later, his vehicle was hit by an rocket-propelled grenade round. Despite receiving horrific head injuries, he drove out of the ambush and again saved his crew.

However, an article on the the BNP's website states: "All he did was drive away very fast from a combat zone. . . to safety, as have hundreds and hundreds of other British soldiers in Iraq under similar circumstances.

"This type of action is so common in combat zones, that it actually happened again to Beharry on 11 June 2004, when an identical scenario played itself out.

"Despite the fact of driving through an ambush is actually routine for all military vehicles drivers in the British Army in Iraq, the politically correct Ministry of Defence decided to elevate this particular occasion to something worthy of the VC."

A spokesman for the anti-racist Searchlight group told the News of the World: "The BNP are repulsive. L/Cpl Beharry was awarded the highest honour in the land for risking his life in the service of his country. When did Nick Griffin last show his face in a war zone?"

Almost five years after the incidents for which he was decorated, L/Cpl Beharry has said still suffers from the severe injuries he received.